NYSED and GSE Requirements

The New York State Education Department mandates that students seeking their first
teaching certification must have a minimum 100 hours of field experience linked to
coursework before student teaching. This applies to all of Binghamton's pre-service programs. In addition, students will visit high-needs classrooms and schools in
urban, suburban, and rural districts during their field experiences and/or student
teaching.

School districts have asked GSE staff to follow explicit protocols and make formal
arrangements for your presence in their schools. Therefore you may not freelance your
field experience at a school of your choosing. If you have a special situation or
difficulty around this field experience requirement, consult your adviser. Under no circumstances may you make your own placements. Finally, while every effort is made for students to have a shorter commute to schools,
it is not assumed, and placement can be be anywhere in the local BOCES region, or
a bit beyond. it is expected that you will be able to arrange transportation to your
placement sites.

Although GSE will try to accommodate students with extenuating circumstances, we cannot
waive the 100-hour requirement. Prior teaching experience is valuable, but it cannot
count toward meeting the 100-hour requirement because it is not linked to coursework.
Purposeful fieldwork will help you become a stronger teacher, and GSE has designed
these experiences to be valuable and meaningful. These experiences will help you develop
your understanding of pedagogy, curriculum, and the social, cultural and intellectual
experiences of teaching and schooling. You will get to know teachers and students;
you may help teachers by working with small groups or individual students. Your professors
also may give you specific assignments connected to your field experiences.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, contact Tami Mann, senior staff assistant
in the Graduate School of Education at 607-777-5322 or tmann@binghamton.edu.

Professional Knowledge and Dispositions

The following are the Professional Knowledge and Disposition criteria to which all
Graduate School of Education students are held accountable. Students will be evaluated
as they progress in their program, based upon:

Getting Connected with Schools for Field Experience

Either Tami Mann or your course instructor will inform you when arrangements have
been completed for you to start fieldwork. Please make it a priority to contact your school (i.e., within one week).

When you call your school, make sure to say that the school administrator and GSE
have approved your placement for fieldwork. Then provide the following information:

date you are expected to start

cooperating teacher's name

multiple ways the cooperating teacher can contact you.

If your cooperating teacher does not contact you within 3 days of leaving your message
with the school, please inform Tami Mann at 777-5322, or tmann@binghamton.edu.

As you get ready to report to your school,

Find out about special instructions (i.e. where to report, sign in, parking, etc.)

Plan to introduce yourself to the school principal.

Be ready to share any information about your course and related field experience (course
expectations, assignments to be based on fieldwork, etc).

Share your special strengths/talents with teacher, as well as areas of interest/concern.

Be punctual and professional at all times.

Upon completion of field experience, be sure to thank the teacher/principal for sharing
their classroom community with you.

Fieldwork Log

You are responsible for documenting all your field experiences, so you must keep a
log of your visits to include the dates and times you visit and the general activities
associated with each visit. Your program or course instructors may specify a format
for your fieldwork log or may allow you to use your own system, as long as it includes
required information. You may count all productive time spent in the building, not
only classroom work but observation in other classrooms, interaction with students
and teachers outside of classroom, and time spent in a study hall or the cafeteria.
Some courses may have specific requirements for fieldwork, and specific assignments
to be completed, which should be documented in your log.

Student Teaching

After you have completed your 100 hours of field experience, you will be assigned
to an area school for student teaching. Here is some useful information about student
teaching:

Placements are carefully made, tailored to best matches between student and cooperating
teacher. It is assumed that you have adequate transportation to schools in the Broome-Tioga
BOCES region, or just beyond.

Professional appearance and behavior are expected at all times (see Guidelines below).

Communication is key. Make sure that you are organized, timely, and professional in
all communication with your cooperating teachers and university professors.

Optimize your student teaching experience. Be enthusiastic, take careful notes, take
initiative, and follow through on all work given to you by your cooperating teacher.

Student Teaching Workbook The Student Teaching Workbook (.pdf, 269kb) provides some general guidance about what to expect and how to insure
a successful student teaching experience. This document complements the information
that your professors will give you when you take the student teaching course(s).

Professional Behavior: Some Additional Expectations

The Graduate School of Education expects you to conform to professional behavior in
all your interactions with area schools. You exhibit professional behavior when you:

dress appropriately. No jeans, no revealing clothing, no extremely casual wear. You
do not have to purchase a new wardrobe, but you do need to wear comfortable, clean
professional attire.

follow school procedures. Ask and learn where to park and how to sign in. Find out
if the teacher has specific expectations for you.

observe the confidentiality of professional relationships with administrators, parents,
teachers, and students. Do not gossip about students or other teachers. It is unprofessional
to comment about students or teachers in the faculty room, the cafeteria, the hall.

understand the teacher's legal obligations: a teacher is legally responsible for students
and curriculum.

check with your teacher before deviating from the field experience arrangements drawn
up for you. Do not simply drop in on any teacher's classroom to observe or decide
that you are doing something other than what was assigned you.

Final Thoughts About Field Experience

Schools are dynamic environments, and repeated visits to the same class presents valuable
opportunities for professional growth. Observation can be a very active exercise,
going far beyond a simple focus on the teacher. Take advantage of the opportunity
to observe the same class more than once. Take notes of everything you see, hear,
and think about: these notes form the substance of your log and perhaps the basis
of assignments in your courses. Take time to reflect on what you observe in the classroom
and the entire school. What do you notice about students and how they engage (or fail
to engage) the work? How does the teacher approach the students? The curriculum? How
is the classroom managed? How many students are in each class? What does the curriculum
entail? What is the atmosphere of the classroom? Be alive to the opportunities presented
to you.

Finally, please be aware that you represent Binghamton University. The way you present
yourself reflects not only upon you but also upon all Binghamton University students
in Education; your behavior may affect not only others' field experiences and internships
but their future employment as well. We're counting on you to do us proud.